Corpse Suzette

named Sergio
D’Alessandro.”
    Elizabeth thought for a
moment, then nodded. “I think I read about that in the paper a few days ago.
Didn’t he own some sort of exclusive spa or something?”
    “Yes,” Savannah said, “the
Mystic Twilight spa and another new place called Emerge. You didn’t know him?”
    “No. Never heard of him
until I read that article in the paper. I thought it said he died of natural
causes, though. A heart attack or something.”
    “We thought so at first,”
Dirk replied. “But now we know differently.”
    Elizabeth took a sip of her
cosmopolitan and said, “So, why did you come to me? What do I have to do with
your investigation?”
    “We need to get in touch
with someone,” Dirk said, “just to talk to her about a few things. And we think
you might have seen her recently.”
    “Oh, really? Who?”
    “A woman named Suzette Du
Bois.”
    She shook her head. “No,
that doesn’t ring any bells. Sorry.” Savannah said, “She may have been using
another name.”
    “What does she look like?”
    “That’s easy,” Dirk said.
“She’s a Marilyn Monroe wanna-be.” Elizabeth caught her breath, reached for her
glass and took a long drink before setting it down again.
    Savannah watched her
carefully. The woman was clearly stalling for time, her mental gears whirring
as she considered her answer. “You’ve seen someone like that recently?”
Savannah said. “Maybe had some sort of business dealing with her?”
    “I might have.” Elizabeth
glanced toward the exit door of the bar, then back at them. “Why?”
    “Like I said before,” Dirk
replied, “we need to talk to her. She’s not a suspect at this time, just a...
person of interest.”
    A person of interest, my
eye, Savannah thought. If Dirk lays hands on the woman she'll be wearing
handcuffs for bracelets in a bunny rabbit's heartbeat.
    Elizabeth squirmed in her
seat, obviously miserable. “I don’t know what to say to you. I own a very
successful agency here on the island. I do business with a lot of people.”
    “Have you done business
with the woman we’re talking about?” Dirk prodded.
    “I may have. But people
here trust me. Believe it or not, but even in real estate, some of the business
I handle is quite personal. I have a reputation for being a discreet person,
and I don’t want to damage that by betraying my clients.”
    “We’re not asking you to
betray anyone,” Savannah told her. “Just give us a hint as to where we might
find her.”
    Dirk was beginning to lose
his patience, hotsy-totsy or not. Savannah could feel him tensing beside her
and knew that he was about to switch from solicitous to aggressive and cranky.
    Elizabeth took another
long, deep drink, and Savannah could see that her hand was shaking. “I may have
sold her a house recently.”
    Savannah said, “And did she
come up with a substantial down payment for the property?”
    She nodded.
    “Like maybe over three
hundred thousand?”
    Again, a reluctant nod.
    “Must be nice digs,” Dirk
said, “if that’s just the down payment.”
    Elizabeth didn’t reply.
    “And you met her early
yesterday morning when she arrived here on the island?” Savannah asked.
    “Yes.”
    “We thought so. You were
seen helping her move boxes from the ferry’s loading dock into your car.”
Savannah got a tingling, deep in her belly... the kind she got during an
interrogation just before a perp confessed or ratted out a no-good buddy. “Did
you take her and her stuff to her new house?”
    Suddenly, Elizabeth slid
out of the booth, nearly spilling the remainder of her drink. “I’m sorry,” she
said, “but I’m a professional. This—this is a big deal for me. There’s a lot of
money involved, a large commission that my agency needs right now. And like I
said, it’s a small community. The last thing I need is to have word get around
the island that I turned over one of my clients to the mainland police.”
    “But—” Dirk reached for her
arm, but she brushed his hand aside.
    “I’ve told you all I can,”
she said. “I’ll have to ask you to continue your investigation without me.”
    Dirk thrust his card into
her hand. “Take this,” he said, “in case you change your mind. Call me any
time.”
    She wadded the card into a
ball in her fist. “I won’t change my mind.”
    A moment later, she was
gone.
    “I’ll betcha she’s laying
down rubber getting out of that parking lot,” Savannah said.
    Dirk reached for